Padres MiLB June 4, Players of the Day

Hitter(s) of the Day

Eric Sogard (AA): 1-3, HR, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB
Mike Baxter (AA): 1-2, HR, 3 R, 3 BB, SO
Lance Zawadski (AA): 2-5, 2 2B, R RBI, SO
Chad Huffman (AAA): 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI

Pitcher of the Day

Mat Latos (AA): 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

Commentary

It bugs me when commentators talk about strike-out pitchers as inefficient. What is inefficient is walking batters; it takes at least 4 pitches. First-pitch ground-outs are nice, but most hitters aren’t swinging at the first pitch these days. On Thursday Latos pitched 6.2 innings and only threw 93 pitches. That averages just less than 14 pitches per inning. In those 6.2 innings, he struck out 8 hitters. Nice!